tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13928417.post5311609639863897556..comments2015-02-15T19:10:02.291-06:00Comments on 'Village Life in Kreis Saarburg, Germany': The Army Calls and I Must Go?Kathy, the Single-minded Offshoothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07887312817720774699noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13928417.post-67222903426838199782012-01-04T18:51:00.997-06:002012-01-04T18:51:00.997-06:00Bill, who read my blog post, was unable to post th...Bill, who read my blog post, was unable to post this comment. He sent me an e-mail and I can&#39;t explain why he had difficulty - but there are many things that happen in Blogger that I can&#39;t explain. I offered to post his comment to help out, so here it is:<br /><br />BILL SAID:<br /><i>&quot;My family came from the Remagen area in the Eifel in 1855 and settled near La Crosse, Wisconsin. My great-great grandmother was from Holzmülheim. I have traced them in the Remagen/Sinzig area back to 1684, so they were there during the time of French occupation. I was wondering if you have run into any kind of documentation of Rhinelanders who ended up in the French army and possibly headed for Russia? I imagine if they were in that army, there is very little chance they returned.<br /><br />Thanks, and I really enjoy your site. I only recently discovered where my family came from, so I have a lot of catching up to do. Your site has a lot of good information to help me paint a picture of their life there.&quot;</i><br /><br />Unfortunately, I haven&#39;t discovered any ancestors in Kreis Saarburg who served in the French army, although I imagine there were some &quot;French/German&quot; soldiers while the Rhineland was a part of France. I am focusing on the time after the French rule, so I haven&#39;t tried to find much about the Napoleonic era. The Germans did love to keep records so perhaps a State Archive that collects documents for the Eifel region might have such lists - or maybe there are such lists in France. If anyone out there can give Bill information, he would very much appreciate it.Kathy, the Single-minded Offshoothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07887312817720774699noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13928417.post-20882570526864806662010-08-09T18:03:35.572-05:002010-08-09T18:03:35.572-05:00I received an interesting e-mail from a blog reade...I received an interesting e-mail from a blog reader. It adds an interesting detail to what I iwrote so I am reproducing it here:<br /><br /><i>Thank you for the detailed information about conscription in the Prussian Army. You answered the questions I had regarding a number of my ancestors who left Prussia between 1843 and 1871. As you, I am constantly striving to find the details about the lives of my ancestors so that I can bring them to life in my writings.<br /> <br />One thought about your Johann Meier is that he may have been a bit higher than 5 feet. It depends on the accuracy of the translation of the Engels document. If the original German indicated 5 Fuß, it is often translated into English as 5 feet. However, prior to 1871, the Prussian Fuß was 0.3138 meters. This would equate to 5 feet 1 and ¾ inches.<br /> <br />Not sure if it makes a differences to you, but it looks like the Prussian Army was rejected everyone who was less than about 5 ft 2 in.</i>Kathy, the Single-minded Offshoothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07887312817720774699noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13928417.post-68363932763729761822008-10-31T05:25:00.000-05:002008-10-31T05:25:00.000-05:00Kathy, the Constitution of the German Empire from ...Kathy, <BR/>the Constitution of the German Empire from 16. April 1871 regulated the draft-System. This Constitution was in force until 11. August 1919. <BR/>§ 57 said: "Art. 57 Jeder Deutsche ist wehrpflichtig und kann sich in Ausübung dieser Pflicht nicht vertreten lassen". Means: Every German has to serve..."<BR/>§ 59 reglemented the details of the conscription system: "Jeder wehrfähige Deutsche gehört sieben Jahre lang, in der Regel vom vollendeten 20. bis zum beginnenden 28. Lebensjahre, dem stehenden Heere - und zwar die ersten drei Jahre bei den Fahnen, die letzten vier Jahre in der Reserve - und die folgenden fünf Lebensjahre der Landwehr an." Means: Every German able to serve has to serve seven Years in the standing Army (from 20 yers to 28). Three years in the active service and four years in the reserve. Then five years in the Landwehr followed. In 1888 the Landwehr-Duty was splitted in two contigents: "erstes Aufgebot" and "zweites Aufgebot". Means: From 28 to 33 you had to serve in the first contingent with two maneuvers in the year. From 33 to 39 you had to serve in the 2nd contigent of the Landwehr with one maneuver yearly. The Kriegswesen-constitution was adapted a bit in 1888 and 1905 <BR/> <BR/>The Landsturm you mention is something different. It was decribed in the "Landsturmgesetz". <BR/>Landsturm was the last contingent in the case of a threat. Every male German between 17 and 60 belonged to the Landsturm - a sort of militia. They were only drafted in a war-case. In peace time, there was no control of the military.<BR/>This system generally is dating back to the prussian military reform of Scharnhorst in 1813, when Prussia reformed its system to make it efficient enough to drive Napoleon out of Germany. <BR/>If anyone needs more detailed information, drop me a line, <BR/>ErnstErnstnoreply@blogger.com